W. Iowa Counties to Get Weather-Disaster Help

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Governor Terry Branstad has issued a proclamation of disaster emergency and activated an assistance program for four Iowa counties affected by recent severe weather.

Branstad said in a news release Friday that the Iowa Individual Assistance Program has been activated for Cass, Harrison, Montgomery, and Ringgold counties. Pottawattamie County was declared under a disaster emergency on Tuesday and is open to the assistance program.

The program provides grants of up to $5,000 to households with incomes up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level, or a maximum annual income of less than $40,000 for a family of three. The money is available for home or car repairs, clothing, food and temporary housing.

The National Weather Service says investigators surveying debris concluded an EF-2 tornado landed Tuesday about nine miles west of Oakland. Such a classification means the tornado could have packed wind speeds ranging from 111 to 135 miles per hour.

The Council Bluffs Nonpareil reports the tornado carved out a three-mile path before it merged with another storm. That created straight-line winds that exceeded 90 mph and severely damaged properties in Oakland.

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WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) — A jury has been selected in the trial for a man accused of killing his former girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter. Lawyers began questioning jurors Monday and narrowed a pool of more than 100 candidates to a panel of five women and seven men for the trial of Casey Frederiksen. Prosecutors say the 35-year-old was watching Evelyn Miller for her mother in July 2005 when he sexually abused the girl and stabbed her to death.

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa (AP) — A jury has been selected in the trial for a man accused of killing his former girlfriend's 5-year-old daughter. Lawyers began questioning jurors Monday and narrowed a pool of more than 100 candidates to a panel of five women and seven men for the trial of Casey Frederiksen. Prosecutors say the 35-year-old was watching Evelyn Miller for her mother in July 2005 when he sexually abused the girl and stabbed her to death.